Violent crime at historic lows

Regarding Roger Ray's "A Local Voice" column ("Deaths pile up, and yet solution is 'more guns'," Jan. 9): Of the "30,000 gun deaths every year," more than half are suicides. Is Ray suggesting that those who want to kill themselves in the absence of a gun will not find another way?

In Japan, where private ownership of guns is banned, the suicide rate is twice as high as in the United States.

Violent crime in the United States is at historic lows, despite gun sales being at historic highs. It is intellectually dishonest to blame alcohol and cars for drunken driving deaths and equally so to blame guns for harming others.

If Ray is so dismissive of the presence of trained, armed personnel to deter school violence, perhaps he would prefer Springfield police officers and Greene County Sheriff's deputies go unarmed?

Why has Missouri and every other state with permissive "concealed carry" laws seen a drop in violent crime? Simple - deterrence, and the implication that force will be met with force if lives are threatened works.

Less than .005 percent of guns in the United States - or fewer than 1 of every 20,000 - are used to violently end another person's life yearly. This is still too high. Many of these are committed by people with a violent or criminal history, mental health issues, or a combination of the above, and every effort should be made to keep weapons out of their hands. But to state that the mere possession of "weapons that could eventually be used to kill hundreds of innocent Americans" somehow incites those not inclined to commit violence is an insult to the owners of the other 99.995 percent of guns.